Darkness or Light
by Laury Rose
Summary: They say that the moment you see them is the last of your life, like angels of death coming to reap your soul. Nobody ever confirmed this fact and lived to tell the tale...or so they say. Actually, some have. Those they chose to share their lives with. AU (assassin!Alice x Ryō, assassin!Erina x assassin!Sōma)
1. Prologue

_Hello!_

 _So I came up with the idea while writing **Misunderstanding** and decided to turn it into a fic. The story is mainly about Alice and Ryō but I love Sōma x Erina too much so they'll appear too here and there, along with other characters probably ;) _

_This is an AU, a little inspired from Hunter x Hunter's Killua for the assassin family and some facts are fictional. I'm thinking of writing it mainly in Alice's POV or normal one, maybe in Erina's and others' too. It might differ from the original plot that is in Misunderstanding._

 _Updates will be inconstant since I have another ongoing story...I apologize about that in advance. Let me know what you think about it if you'd like :)_

 **Disclaimer:** I dont own Shokugeki no Sōma.

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

They say that the moment you see them is the last of your life, like angels of death coming to reap your soul. Nobody ever confirmed this fact and lived to tell the tale. Penetrating their grounds was as good as signing one's death. No outsider ever exited their domain alive. Their family is known all over the world but if no one what they look like...they became a legend, a myth no one wanted to cross path with : _Shinigami_ , the death messengers.

* * *

 **Alice's POV**

I still remember that night...

It was in winter. A cold breeze was slipping over me but I couldn't really feel any of it, I was way too focused on watching it. That little snowflake that was slowly fluttering towards the ground. I followed its slow descent and could no longer hear anything other than the sound of the wind caressing my ears.

Soon enough, it finally touched the ground and joined the billions of pure white snowflakes already adorning it. Then a red drop landed on it and it was no longer pure, no longer white. Now it was red, just as red as blood. It was tainted with it.

It kind of reflected my story. A little girl who was soon thrown into that dark business as soon as she was born...actually, it kind of looked like me too. When I was born, all that my parents could see was white. My hair, my beautiful white hair. But then, when I opened my eyes, they were drawn to their blood red color, irresistibly attracted to them as it offered an impressive contrast with my white hair - and skin. Yeah, a little like I am right now as I look at that single red drop.

But soon, the moment is broken when other drops join the first one. Then I let my eyes slide on that young man, bent and on his knees as his hand vainly cover his mouth trying to prevent it to come out, his blood. But it's too late already. He's dying and no one can save him right now.

As he looks up to me, all I can see in his gaze is shock and realization, and I can't help but smile.

"Gomene, Onii-san." I say unrepentantly just before his eyes roll up and he collapses on the ground and I look back to the red drops.

Blood. _His_ blood.

That was the first time, the first time I killed someone. I was five at the time.

Now, fifteen years later, I've killed so many people that I just don't bother keeping count anymore - even if we have well kept records of our targets in the basement or something like that. I rarely go and take a look at them so we could have moved there somewhere else.

What? You're wondering why we're keeping records of that? That's simple. It's because this is our job. Yeah, killing people is our job. Ah? Indeed...I guess I have yet to introduce myself.

*clears her throat and throws her arms behind her back in a cheerful pose*

My name is Nakiri Alice. *grins* I am an assassin. I've been working in this field ever since I was five - even earlier if you count my training which started...hmm...when I was born? Okay, maybe not crazy stuff like running, throwing knives on still targets, hunting and stuff but since my mom is an assassin too, she would often (if not always) tell me of her old stunts. She was, and still is, a genius. She killed her first target at four by acting like a lost kid and separating them from their family until they reached a dark alley where she abruptly pierced his carotid and let him bleed to death.

Hum...I think I'm getting off topic here.

Huh?

You want to hear more about my family? *pouts* But I didn't even finish introducing myself yet and this is my story!

Oh. After I finish? Hmm...okay. Indeed, they are part of my story too I guess...

But let's continue with me right now! *grins*

So, my favorite killing technique is the use of poisons. And nano technology. It's mostly untraceable afterwards and can bring death upon someone rather quickly. It's really less brutal than simple stabbing and such. I went to Denmark to research about viruses and technology in my father's corporation. It's really well known and I could learn lots of things there. I came back to our domain, Tōtsuki mountain when I was fourteen and ever since then, I've been competing with my cousin, Erina, to see who is the best.

Hmm...I guess I got to talk about my family now. So, here we go!

Actually, even if our property is so vast, only three of us, Nakiri, are currently living here. My grandfather, Nakiri Senzaemon, my cousin, Nakiri Erina, and me, Nakiri Alice.

My mother stayed in Denmark with my father and Erina's mother disappeared...somewhere some years ago while her father, who is only a Nakiri because he married into the family, was exiled because he broke the rules. I'd...rather not talk about that right now.

As you probably guessed by now, grandfather is the leader of the family. Some say that a look from him can kill...I'm not sure about the veracity of this affirmation but it seems like he developed the ability to take control of one's brain and make them suffocate and such without even touching them. Hmm...I want to be able to do that too! *grins excitedly*

*realizes what she's doing, looks around and coughs twice*

Anyway, I already introduced my mother, Nakiri Leonara so I won't do it again.

Hmm...I guess that leaves us with my cousin, Erina - oh, here she comes.

* * *

"Erina!" Alice shouts while waving at her.

Erina flinches and slowly turns around with a wary face. "What is it, Alice?"

Alice grins at her expression before she explains, grinning even more than before. "Come here and introduce yourself!"

Erina briefly looks around before letting her gaze fall back on Alice. "Hum...to who? " she asks, confused.

Alice send her a 'Are you blind?' look before pointing at the direction she was looking at earlier and answering "To them of course!" as if it was obvious.

Following her finger, Erina just stares before unsurely replying "...right..."

Alice looks at her impatiently before putting her fists on her hips and pouting. "Oh, come on Erina! They're waiting!" she exclaims exasperatedly.

"Okay, okay!" Erina says to calm her down. Then she walks up to Alice and stands uncomfortably next to her before giving her an unsure look to which Alice replies with a prompting one and after clearing her throat, Erina finally starts.

"Hum, hello. I am Nakiri Erina, Alice's cousin. I'm twenty, just like her, and I am in the family business." she says before stopping.

Alice waits for a while but when she is sure that she won't say anymore, she frowns. "Erina! Don't you have anything else to say?"

Turning towards her, Erina snaps. "Just what do you want me to say?!"

Alice dramatically throws her hands into the air in exasperation. "I don't know! Tell them how you first met the love of your life Yukihira, tell them what you specialize in, how you like to kill people, anything!"

Erina blushes and evaded her gaze "Sōma isn't the love of my life..." she denies without much conviction.

"Really?" a deep husky voice whispers teasingly in her ear, making Erina jump and turn around.

"Sōma-kun!" she starts with a startled look as her blush intensifies, "Stop creeping on me like that!" she reprimands and by the grin she receives in response, she knows that he's far too amused to actually stop doing it and somehow, she doesn't seem to care enough to mind that fact.

"I had to since I heard you say such hurtful words..." Sōma says as he dramatically puts his right hand above his heart and feigns being hurt.

Erina stares at him for a few minutes before saying "That doesn't work on me." in a flat tone.

Sōma instantly drops the act. "Too bad." he says before grinning and Erina's alarms start resounding in her mind, telling her that leaving would probably be the best for her. His next words confirms that fact.

"Then I'm gonna have to make you fall for me all over again, or render you unable to think straight which sounds like the most enjoyable option, doesn't it?" he asks as his golden eyes gain an almost evilly teasing glint and Erina blushes at his innuendo before she turns around and tries to flee.

However, before she has the chance to, Sōma easily catches her and lifts her up in his arms, princess style, before widely grinning at her. "No use trying to escape from me. Don't worry, in a few minutes, you won't even want to." he adds as he leans down and quickly pecks her on the lips, his grin widening even more at the fierce blush this elicits from her.

Before he starts for the door, he turns towards Alice and nods at her in greeting to which she responds with a nod of her own, completely ignoring Erina's complains and struggling in the process. Then, he swiftly disappears from the room with his woman still firmly held (and still loudly protesting) in his arms and soon enough, Alice can no longer hear either of them.

"Looks like they're gone..." she states with a knowing smile. "Oh well, I'll introduce them instead."

* * *

 **Alice's POV**

So, where were we? Ah yes, Erina.

So, Erina doesn't really like to have to dirty her hands. I think that's probably why she developed that skill. She bewitches her preys into happily killing themselves and they're often found with happy expressions on their face. It's probably a form of hypnotism...I know that she uses her eyes to do that by making them even more enticing than usual.

Yeah, both her and grandfather make a great use of their eyes...but we are all perfectly trained in all the other assassination techniques and combat techniques as well! That's a must in our field of work.

Hmm? Sōma-kun? That's her soon-to-be husband. They're not married yet but I think they're planning to do that very soon. They've been engaged for some time already...

Back to the point, his name is Yukihira Sōma. They met some years ago during a mission Erina had. He's an assassin as well but I think he cooks too...I would tell you about their first meeting and his assassination style but Erina will probably be able to do so better than me since I wasn't there so I'll tell her to do it later. *grins widely*

Okay, now that the introductions are over, we can start with the story! _My_ story - or rather _our_ story. *winks* I'm going to tell you how I first met _him_ , the one who changed my life...forever.

* * *

 _Gomene =_ sorry ; _Onii-san =_ mister (young) _(It can mean big brother too but not in those circumstances ; it's often used to adress a man who's older than you when you're young but not old enough to be called ojii-san)_


	2. First meeting

_Hi :)_

 _Finally came around to updating this. ^^' Well, I hope you'll enjoy it x)_ _And let's say that the first disclaimer is applied to all of the story._

 _Anyway, here is chapter 1 ;)_

* * *

 **First Meeting**

* * *

 **Alice's POV**

The first time I met him, I was fourteen. Our meeting was rather...unusual to say the least. It was snowing that night...we _were_ in the middle of winter after all. Now that I think about it, it was a rather cold night to be working outside... *brings a finger to her chin* Not that I mind. *grins*

Back onto topic, as you probably guessed by now, I was out on a job. I think my target's name was...

* * *

 ** _6 years earlier, somewhere in the Northern Europe_**

"Ichibuta Teki, president of OOO company huh..." Alice mumbles out loud as she lowers the paper in her hand and takes the goggles resting beside her on the edge of the roof.

Lifting them up to her eyes, she points them towards the grand lit ballroom of the hotel not so far away from her current location. Nonchalantly swinging her legs in the cold air, she looks for her prey inside that room.

"Hmm...here you are Buta-san!" she quietly exclaims once her eyes rest upon him. It's a plump black-haired man, a little over his forties, wearing a suit that seem a little tight for him around the belly and Alice can't help but think that his name really suits him. _...he just groped that girl's butt didn't he?_

An evil smirk stretches Alice's lips before a thought occurs to her and she frowns. _Tch...too easy. Oh well, at least I'll be able to try my newest poison._ This thought brings an excited smile to her lips and she jumps off the building, swiftly landing with a small poof when her feet touch the snow-covered ground. She only gives a glance around to see if no one saw her jump off a six-story building because it'd be way too troublesome if someone did - not that she cared but Erina would give her an earful that she'd rather avoid, so...

 _The coast is clear!_ Alice confirms with a grin and she immediately sets off to the party. _Let's get started._

* * *

Looking left and right, Alice makes sure that no one is around before sneaking into the control room. Closing the door behind her, she closes her eyes to give them time to adjust to the darkness and after a few seconds, she opens them again, now able to see perfectly every object in the room. It was now as easy as that but she had to train a lot when she was young to develop that skill...even with her natural gift. But it's a really useful skill to have when your job is to kill people.

Speaking about it, there was a reason she came in here. Looking around, she finally finds the thing she was looking for. The fuse box. A grin stretches her lips in satisfaction as she swiftly makes her way to it. Taking a little black device the size of a fly, she then places it on the aforementioned fuse box and makes her way to the computer controlling the CCTV present in the ballroom before placing the same device on its core.

Satisfied, she then makes her way out after checking her surroundings once again. She has ten minutes to wait before her devices would be set off. When they do, they will release a strong electromagnetic wave that will cause the electronic devices near it to blow up before destroying themselves without leaving much more than a slight burn mark.

Now, she just has to wait for the blackout to happen.

Sneaking behind a high and furnished plant in a corner just a little away from the entrance of the ballroom, Alice activated her combination camouflage ability before releasing the bug-sized aerial device that would allow her to easily spot Buta-san in the darkness with its soft glow. She has previously programmed it to follow his scent which she had been furnished by her contractor so that it wouldn't get lost on its way or mistake her target with someone else.

A minute later, a slight buzz of her remote control informs her that it has been successfully latched onto Buta-san's person and she plunges her hand to grip at the syringe containing the deadly poison. It's her newest one. The strongest neurotoxin that she had come up with. Once it reached a neuron, it'd block all of the canals present in it and its nucleus would cease to function, ultimately causing the brain to shut down and the person to die.

However, the effects were slow but since it had been one of the points her client had insisted on, it was just perfect. Though she would have used a quicker method if she had had a say in the matter.

 _Che..._

Anyway, Alice focuses back on the task at end as she lets her fingers play with the still covered needle. It's a really thin one which she has covered with an extra strong anesthetic which would prevent her target to feel any pain when she'd inject the liquid directly in his spine, in between two cervical junctures.

Now, if only time could go by quicker...

 _Finally!_

The lights turn out and Alice immediately sets to work.

Five minutes later, the white-haired teen is silently jumping down in a dark and empty street directly located under the ballroom floor. Standing up, she dusts her clothes off the extra snow and swiftly makes her way back to her previous observation spot.

* * *

 _...This is boring._

Observing Buta-san through her goggles is getting tiring. Why is she doing that again? Ah yes, their client is a meticulous freak who wants them to make sure it's working and that his boss will be dead at the end of the evening and who doesn't completely trust the assassin he has contracted.

No, she's not mad. Just bored to death. Even so, she has to watch the effects of the poison for future reference and to her client's demand. But it's been more than an hour already and there's still no external sign of the poison's effect.

Red eyes wander on the city night view in absolute boredom, swiping over the scenery before hastily going back on one point and zeroing on it.

At first glance, nothing seems out of place. It's just a teenager (probably around her age from what she can see) carrying groceries, seemingly on his way back. But looking closer, there's a weird shadow following him.

Attentively looking at said shadow, she immediately notices that it's a person, and by the silvery glint her eyes catch when a light ray hit the object they're carrying, she easily deduced that it's a weapon of some sort, a knife if she is guessing well.

After a second of hesitation, Alice jumps onto the roof of the next building in direction of the weird figure she saw with her goggles. She'll still have time to go back to observing Buta-san later. This seems _far_ more interesting than watching him, especially since this is a slow poison...

After two minutes or so, she finally catches up with the two figures and looks down onto the street they're currently in. Now, she's sure of it. It's a knife that _shadow_ is holding. Normally, she wouldn't have especially cared about something like that happening but...she was bored. And this is entertaining for what it's worth.

A grin splits her face as she silently jumps down into the snow a hundred meters away from them as to not catch their attention before quietly making her way to the man lurking into the darkness. She then decides to shadow the shadow until he decides to attack to let the game last a bit longer. She is in no hurry after all since as soon as she'll be done here, she'll have to go back to observing her walking dead victim...let's just say she's not looking forward to that.

Much to her disappointment, only two minutes after she entered the game the man starts to make his move and she sighs. Before he can so much as lift his knife into the air, she knocks him out with a strong hit on the back of his neck and he collapses in a mid-loud thud. She would have killed him but Erina had already lectured her about not taking another person's life if they're not the target since they have to take into account the collateral damage as well and make sure that they won't be linked to it. The Nakiris are only working on contract after all so as long as it's possible, they're only killing the people they were asked to kill.

Alice frowns down at the man in pity and dissatisfaction. It was too easy. And way too short. An amateur for sure...

She's still looking at the unconscious man when she feels a gaze on her and her mind decides to remind her that there is someone else with her in that alley. The man who was followed. She lifts her eyes to meet his and as red clash against red, time freezes.

Alice's red eyes widen in surprise as she looks into the young man's own red eyes. It wasn't often that she met people with the same eye color than hers so she feels that her surprise is completely justified. Upon closer inspection, he doesn't seem to be older than she is.

A grown up man tried to kill a 14-year-old boy.

Realizing that fact, she vaguely wonders what he did to inspire such feelings to the man as she continues her inspection. He seems well-trained if the flex of muscles under his shirt is any indication and looks just a bit aloof if the uncaring look in his eyes as he casts a glance to the man and Alice is to be trusted. There's a red bandana tied to his right wrist and somehow, despite his nonchalant façade, he seems to be examining her just as she is doing to him.

The silence lasts a little longer before the boy moves as if to speak and Alice fully expects him to thank her and thus is completely unprepared for his next words.

"I could have taken care of him myself." he simply says in an emotionless voice as he stares at her in indifference and a vein pops onto Alice's temple.

"You hadn't even noticed him!" she exclaims in anger at the ungratefulness of the guy.

"I had." he calmly counters without even blinking.

"Of course." Alice replies sarcastically, "And you just let him sneak up on you until he decides to kill you?!" she asks, not believing him for a second.

"Yeah." he answers without so much as batting an eye and Alice feels her eye twitch in annoyance and she decides to ignore his bad faith to state a fact even more important than that.

"Regardless of that, I just saved your life. You could have at least thanked me." Alice says stubbornly as she looks at the boy expectantly.

"I never asked you to and I didn't need it." the black-haired boy says again as he seems to be blinking in confusion.

 _...what?!_

 _This jerk...!_

Alice can feel the irritation building more and more inside of her chest the more she looks at the boy. _This ungrateful little...!_ She can feel the urge to kill rise and she tries to keep it under control. She closes her eyes and slowly counts to ten. It's working a bit and when she's sure she's not gonna lash out at the boy, she opens her eyes only to find air in the place that he had been occupying.

Her eyes widen in disbelief as fury fill her and she picks up the knife from the man's still hand and throws it as hard as she can, watching it deeply embedding itself into the nearest wall. Going down the alley, she makes her way back to the roofs and goes back to her observation spot once again with a renewed vigor. Watching the slow death of that man would probably help her calm down her nerves.

She really hopes she'll never have to cross path with this jerk again.

* * *

 **Alice's POV**

As you can guess, it didn't go that way and now, I'm kinda happy that it didn't. But at that time, I was really furious and I probably could have killed him on sight if I had seen him again that night. I mean, seriously! Not only did he not thank me for saving his life but he just up and disappears the moment I close my eyes?! That was just so rude! He could have been a bit grateful! But no, he just said that he didn't need my saving him and -

*takes a deep breath*

I'm calm, I'm calm.

Hmm? Of course, Buta-san died. He collapsed without explanation thirty minutes after going back from the party. *grins evilly* And as I thought, observing him die slowly without even realizing made me calm down a bit. When he fell, only satisfaction was left behind in me.

But that's not the subject.

Anyway, next, I'll tell you how my second meeting with that boy went. It was just as...unexpected as the first one. And I didn't kill him on sight, enough time had passed for my anger to subside after all...maybe. Okay, maybe not. But I maintain the fact that it was all his fault, and he didn't die so who cares?

...

Stop looking at me like that.

*clears her throat and grins*

Next, our second meeting. *winks conspiratorially*

* * *

 _So, that was the first chapter of DoL. Hope it was enjoyable :) Feel free to tell me what you thought about it._

 _Answers to guest reviews:_

 **Sorina:** Glad you think so ^^ Well, they might seem a bit OOC indeed…hmm. Though time passed since they first met XD I'll get to that eventually x) Thanks for reviewing ;)

 **Fixxzx:** True. But it's also used when referring to someone older than you but still young whether or not you're related by blood, that's why I first said that :)

 _Thanks to the registered reviewers as well :D **Mailbawx** , **KaleDGhoul** , **nagitochris** , **ijustloveft** , **Awesome D.T** and **lilcutieprincess** ^^_

 _Till next time :D_


	3. Second meeting: part 1

_Hello guys ^^_

 _So I've finally come around to updating this fic too… ^^' …yeah, it's been a while. -.-'_

 _Anyway, let's get right into the chapter :D_

* * *

 **Second meeting: part 1**

* * *

 ** _Alice's POV_**

The second time I met him was barely a month after that disastrous first encounter. The winter wasn't completely over yet but it wasn't snowing anymore. Kind of a pity if you ask me. I had another job in that city and had to study the habits of my target for a while because while my contractor didn't care how or when I killed them, they still wanted it to be untraceable to them and well, I couldn't very well do things and elaborate a viable plan if I didn't know anything about her target besides where they worked and stuff.

Hmm...

*takes a pensive stance*

If I recall correctly the name of my target was...

* * *

"Takada Keiichi, 30 years old, works in a small alcohol shop located just in front of a popular restaurant known for its exceptional seafood called ' _Par delà les mers_ '. Eats there at least once a week, gets along well with the neighborhood..." Red eyes lift from the paper they had been going through as they meet the amethyst gaze if her cousin. "Why does our client wants to have him killed again?"

A well defined eyebrow rises at the unexpected question. "Since when do you care?" Erina asks in a tone managing to convey just how she thought such a question was.

"I don't." Alice airily answers. "It just got me to wonder since it seems like such a lovable person." she tacked on and the depth of her eyes remains cold, clearly uncaring over the fate of such a... _lovable_ person as she says it. Pure curiosity then.

"Well," Erina starts, "how should I know that? They didn't really explain. Maybe they're jealous or something like that. It has nothing to do with us anyway." she finishes as she lets her purple eyes fall down on the request.

"Hmm." Alice hums pensively but doesn't say anymore about it. "So, are there some specifics I should know about?"

"Not really. You can use whatever method you see fit and at the time you will have chosen. But don't let it drag for too long, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"That means not playing around with your prey."

Alice glares. "...tch." A pout makes its way to her face as she crosses her arms under her chest. There goes her fun plans. Erina really was no fun... "Fine." she concedes after a while. "So?"

"What?" Erina asks with a raised eyebrow.

"When am I supposed to leave?" Alice reformulates as she drums an impatient finger along her forearm.

"Whenever you're ready. I trust you can book your own flight?"

"I'd rather use our private jet." Alice smirks.

Erina enter a staring contest with her for a long minute before she sighs and accedes to her demand. "Fine. Then be ready in one hour and half." she declares before picking up the phone resting on her office to contact the staff taking care of their small plane. "Do you want to pilot yourself?" she inquires as an afterthought.

"Hmm...it's really tempting but it's a long flight from Japan to Denmark and since I don't know how much time I'll stay there yet, I'd rather have someone else with me. They'll be able to take care of the plane during our stay too." Alice explains and upon seeing Erina's brief nod in response, stands up from the couch where she was sitting and starts for the door. As she exits, she glances back at her cousin who's now busy on the phone and smiles a little before waving and disappearing from view.

 _See you later, Erina._

* * *

A little more than eleven hours later, Alice debarks in Copenhagen airport, and breaths in the fresh early evening air of Denmark. Then, turning around, she calls out to her pilot "Thanks for the flight!" with a large smile before tacking on "Then I'll leave the plane to you. I'll contact you for the flight back home. It might take a while though so feel free to look around." she finishes with a wink and a wave. "Bye bye!" And with that she disappears around a corner.

Fetching for her phone, Alice calls for a cab and takes out a cap from her bag, pulling it low over her eyes to avoid attracting unwanted attention while she waits at the entrance of the airport. Soon enough, a dark green cab pulls over and she enters, giving the address of the flat she has booked earlier that day as they start rolling towards the city.

As city lights start to defile around the car, Alice leans against the car door and watches them pass by.

Nothing changed much since the last time she came but that was to be expected since she was there less than a month ago.

 _Hmm._

Before long, they pull out in front of her building and Alice exits the cab after paying the bill, not bothering to wait for the change.

 _Now, let's get settled and start gathering information._ Alice thinks as she enters the building and starts making her way to her flat.

* * *

The couch sinks under her weight as Alice lets herself fall onto it. Crossing her legs, she bends down towards the table where she previously laid a map of the city. Taking a pen, she starts marking the useful places, Takada's home, his workplace, the restaurant for example. For the routes he usually takes, she'll have to observe the man a bit.

 _Hmm..._ _I can't do much more tonight._ Alice sets down the pen and stretches her arms above her head. _Let's call it a night._ she decides before standing up and going towards the bathroom, intending to take a relaxing bath before heading to bed. _I'll start tomorrow._

* * *

The door closes with a click behind her as Alice looks down the road through her darkened lenses. The morning light isn't that strong that she has to wear sunglasses but well, it provides some kind of disguises even if it only covers her eyes. Her red eyes are one of her more distinguishable feature after all. Her white hair is too so she settled for wearing a knitted winter cap over it. Usually, she wouldn't go that far but well, she doesn't know how long she'll stay here and with her line of work, it's better to stay as unnoticeable as possible but disguising herself thoroughly is a bore hence the light but efficient disguise.

Actually, she would have gone for the roofs but jumping from roof to roof will be way more noticeable in bright daylight than during nighttime and Erina will give her hell if she does anything as reckless as that so she reluctantly gave up on the idea. For now at least.

Slowly starting down the road, Alice looks around and registers every narrow alley and spots that could be useful for her assassination plan with swift and small eyes movements with her trained gaze. The sunglasses had more than one use after all. She'd look way more suspicious if she didn't have them - though that point is disputable...maybe she should go for a wig instead of a cap next time.

After ten minutes or so, she finally reaches Takada's workplace. Surprisingly, it's a jewel store with really fine products. Maybe that's why someone requested an assassination? Oh well, the reasons have nothing to do with her. She just has to get the job done.

She doesn't enter his store today, only cataloging every possible entry as she passes by before continuing to walk without changing her pace. She'll go back tomorrow with a light disguise on to gather the information she can't get today.

A five-minute walk later, Alice is standing in front of Takada's favorite restaurant, _Par delà les mers_. The place looks decent enough but it's not open yet, it's only 8:30 a.m after all, there is barely any store open right now.

 _Hmm...I'll come back at 12._

Rush hours are better if you don't really want to stand out after all, seeing as the number of clients suddenly shots up. So coming in when there's already many and leaving before they do will probably avoid her being put in the spotlight and she'll be able to go around a bit without gathering unwanted attention.

And with that, Alice pursues her walk around the town, dutifully observing every useful alleys, corners, buildings and stores. She knows that she will go around the rooftops tonight but she won't be able to observe how many people pass by with that so she has to do it now.

Finding a café at the other end of the town, she sits down, only ordering a hot chocolate and starts gazing out the window. She'll go to another café this afternoon and the days after to do the same. It'll be useful to know the flow of people during the day when she finally decides to proceed with the murder.

She spends an hour in that café before leaving and resuming to walk. She stops at the park and visit every corner for two hours before sitting for a while, resuming her observation. In no time, it's already time to go back to the restaurant and she decides to come back to the park later on.

As expected, when she arrives _Par delà les mers_ is packed with customers.

Thankfully, there's a free solo table in a corner of the restaurant so she has no trouble staying relatively unnoticed as she keeps an eye at the other customers. When the waiter comes back, she orders a French Curry Lobster Rice with Cognac and a Midnight cocktail before resuming her observation.

She doesn't have to wait long before Takada-san comes in and is led to a table a few meters away from her. From there she can hear what he orders (his usual apparently) and see how he moves around the place without having to stretch or stand. She's grateful for that and continues to watch him discreetly until her drink arrives. Sipping it quietly, she lets her eyes slide over the place and expertly categorize every single opening from the doors to the air vents. She doubts she'll kill him here but better safe than sorry, one more option can't hurt after all since you never know what can happen.

Her mind stops making plans when she sees a waiter coming up to her table with her plate as she gets rightfully distracted by it. The bright red of the lobster contrasts so vividly with the yellow rice and this smell...! This smell alone is enough to capture all her senses.

Unable to wait any longer, she dives in (with the gracefulness and dignity befitting of a proper lady) as soon as the waiter has left after presenting her with her order.

* * *

 ** _Alice's POV_**

I still remember the taste of this lobster. It was truly incredible...that was the first time I ever tasted something like that. For an instant, it was as if I had been transported in the middle of the forest...

And so, after eating something like that, I just _had_ to see the chef, even if I had to wait for the lunch rush to pass for it to happen. On the contrary, it provided with a perfectly valid reason for staying so long. *grins* And so, I waited in at my table, observing the flow of people and the surroundings until the chef could free himself from his duties but when he finally appeared...let's just say I hadn't expected that.

* * *

Footsteps stop by Alice's table before a definitely male voice (and oddly familiar for some reason) resounded next to the white-haired girl.

"A waiter said you wanted to see me?"

Alice supposes this is the chef and starts talking as she slowly turns towards the new arrival "Yes, I wanted to congratulate..." before trailing off as her eyes fall into the red ones of the young and very familiar chef. Alice blinks once then twice before she shoots up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table as she does so. "Y-YOU!"

The boy blinks as well before slightly tilting his head to the side in contemplation. After a while, he opens his mouth and asks "Do I know you?"

At the question, a vein pulses at Alice's temple and she rips her sunglasses off in a fit of anger, revealing the red eyes they were helping to conceal. "I'm the one who saved your life last month, you ungrateful jerk!"

Unaffected by the insult, the red-eyed boy only stares into her eyes, trying to remember where he had seen a person with red eyes and white hair before, seeing that it certainly was an unusual combination. It took him a while before he finally connected the dots.

"Oh, you're that girl who interfered in that attack the other day." he said as he pocketed his right hand nonchalantly.

Another vein pulsed against Alice's temple at the words and she fisted her hands to her sides. "'Interfered in' you say...?" she repeated slowly, her voice shaking with irritation as she tries not to explode. Her efforts end up being useless as she does just that a few seconds later. "I SAVED YOUR LIFE, YOU JERK!"

"I never asked you to and I could have handled it on my own." the boy answers calmly as he indifferently watches her burn in anger.

"What did you say...?!" Alice seethes between clenched teeth, her hands twitching to take out her hidden blade.

"A-a-ah!" a waiter exclaims in a panicky voice as he approaches flailing his hands in every direction, trying to appease the obviously fuming girl. "Chef Kurokiba! Don't make a scene in the restaurant! I'm sorry about him, Miss." he then says, turning towards Alice and bowing.

"Hmph!" Alice harrumphs as she turns around and crosses her arms under her chest. Then, the air around her turns contemptuous with an under layer of distinct ire."Fine. If you think you're all that strong then I challenge you to a match." she says with an annoyed smile, "If I win, you'll have to grovel to the ground and beg for forgiveness over your rudeness and ungratefulness, and finally thank me for saving you. Plus, every meal I'll have here will be free from now on. That will be the expression of your gratefulness."

While she's still talking, the boy, Kurokiba, detaches the bandana from his wrist and ties it tightly around his head. She's barely done when he explodes in annoyance, his character much more passionate all of a sudden. "Who's gonna prostrate himself before you?! Just who do you think you are?!"

At this point, the poor waiter is back to vainly trying to appease the two but goes completely ignored by the both of them.

Alice tauntingly lifts an eyebrow at him as she answers "Ooh? Not confident in your abilities, I see." with a provoking smirk dancing on her lips.

A vein pulses on Kurokiba's temple as he glares at her. "You little...you're on! But don't come crying later." he declares, his voice dripping with annoyance.

"That's my line." Alice counters as her smirk turns annoyed. "Then, let's meet tonight at 10 ont the roof of this building."

"Fine by me." Kurokiba agrees as his lips twitches in annoyance just before the waiter pulls the bandana off, effectively restoring him to his calm behavior, and apologizes to Alice once again before trying to convince the black-haired boy to go back to the kitchen without creating more agitation to which he rapidly agrees without a single look behind.

From where she's left standing, Alice dugs her nails into her palms as her blood boils inside her vessels. _Tonight, I'm gonna teach him a lesson or two about respect and gratefulness, and there will be no holding back. He'd better come prepared..._ she thinks with an evil smirk before she remembers just where she is and why she's there.

Finally focusing back on her surroundings, she notices the few clients still inside glancing her way, only to turn away when their eyes meet. After taking a deep breath, Alice decides to retreat for now. It won't do to attract any more attention than she already has after all.

* * *

 ** _Alice's POV_**

After that, I went back to observing the surroundings and the town people even if while waiting for the time we had agreed on for our fight, recording the habits and frequented places that could be useful for my job. I couldn't let my encounter with that jerk affect my work after all.

Hmm? What happened during that fight? Well, aren't you curious now... *grins*

 _ **Normal POV**_

"Alice!" Erina's voice resounded from behind the door and sure enough, her blonde cousin entered the room a few seconds later. "I need you to look at some past reports."

"Right now?!" Alice whines, "I'm in the middle of recounting my story...!"

Erina sighs as she crosses her arms under her voluminous chest. "You can do that later, can't you?"

"But..." Alice pouts in response. "And weren't you with Sōma-kun?"

That makes Erina blush but she tries to cover it by coughing and her blush recedes a bit. "That's not important right now. I was doing a bit of maintenance and I need you to come and fill in some details that seem to be missing on some of your missions." Erina explains after regaining her composure.

Alice curses under her breath before muttering "It's not all that important, is it.." which earns her a fierce glare from her cousin.

"You said something...?" Erina says in a threatening voice.

"Nothing." Alice instantly replies with the best innocent face she can muster - which doesn't fool Erina but well, she doesn't call her on it.

"Thought so." Erina replies, obviously satisfied. "Now, let's go, shall we?" she adds before disappearing into the hallway, assuming that her cousin will follow.

Sighing in defeat, Alice glances behind her.

 ** _Alice's POV_**

You hear the girl? I have to go now so I'll tell you the rest later. *waves and grins*

I'll see you all next time. *winks before exiting the room as well*

* * *

 _Tbc…_

 _Answer to guest reviews:_

 **Guest:** It took some time but here it is :)

 **Sorina:** Okay, okay XD I got it, it's a bit confusing XD Hmm…it might be for some time. I apologize about that :/ Idk XD You'll have to tell me if it does or not :) Thanks x)

 _Thanks to the guest reviewers and the registered ones_ _ **Weekly Manga, animelove22, Midmatt404, lilcutieprincess, nagitochris, madeyemoody95**_ _and_ _ **MariTami**_ _:D_

 _Thanks to all those who took the time to read it as well ^^_

 _Ja ne minna ;)_


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